The Research/Buy panel is used to choose which technology your nation is currently researching, and to purchase special technologies, items, and abilities that can give your nation a distinct advantage.

Open the Research/Buy panel by pressing the Research/Buy button above the panel area on the right side of the game screen.

Choosing a Technology to Research

At the top of the Research/Buy panel is a list of technologies available to be researched by your nation. Choose a technology to research by pressing the "Research" button beside its name. Whichever technology is selected at the time that your nation's level next increases, is the technology that your nation will gain.

Technologies available to be researched.

Technology names in the research list and in the purchase list (see below) may be followed by a number of icons:
- This asset is purchased rather than researched.
- This asset has a time limit.
- This asset provides a new weapon.

Choose a technology to research based on what research path you want your nation to take in the future, what kinds of technologies give your nation the best bonuses to the attributes that you wish to focus on. To view a description of any technology in the list, click on its name. For more information about choosing technologies to maximize your nation's effectiveness in battle, see the section on attacking.

To see a list of all technologies available to be researched, go to the Technology Index.

Choosing a Research Goal

You may choose a long term research goal for your nation. If you've chosen a goal, then whenever your nation gains a level your next technology to research will automatically be chosen. It will be the next necessary step towards your chosen goal. You may still change which technology is being researched at any time; choosing a goal simply determines which technology to research is initially selected when your nation's level increases.

Below the list of technologies available for research is a line displaying your nation's current research goal, and a button labeled "Choose Goal". Press this button to display the Research Goal panel.

The nation's research goal.

The Research Goal panel contains a list of all technologies that may be researched, and that your nation has not already researched. You can view information about any of these technologies by clicking on the technology's name in the list. To choose a technology as your nation's research goal, press the "Set Goal" button beside that technology's name.

The Research Goal panel.

Your nation's currently chosen research goal is always displayed below the list on the Research Goal screen. To exit this screen, press the "Okay" button at the bottom.

Purchasing a Technology, Item, or Ability

Your nation may purchase a variety of special technologies, items, and abilities that can give it a formidable edge in battle, and strengthen its defenses when you are not online playing. Which specific technologies are available to be purchased depends on what technologies your nation already possesses, so the list will frequently change.

Technologies available to be researched.

Technologies are purchased using game credits. You can either buy game credits with real money via PayPal or StormPay (see Purchasing Credits, below), or turn your nation's winnings into credits. Teaming up to purchase credits is a good reason for inviting others to join your nation.

To purchase a technology or ability, press the button next to its name marked "Acquire for <price>". This button tells you how many credits the technology will cost; you can only purchase a technology if your nation has enough credits.

Choose technologies to purchase based on the needs of your nation, such as which attributes you are focusing on, the weaknesses of your enemies, and whether you need to fortify certain valuable land areas to keep them from being taken by other nations. To view a description of any technology or ability in the list, click on its name. For more information about choosing technologies to maximize your nation's effectiveness in battle, see the section on attacking.

To see a list of all technologies available to be purchased, go to the Technology Index.

Purchasing Credits

At the bottom of the Research/Buy panel is a section that allows you to purchase credits, either via PayPal or StormPay, or using your nation's prize winnings.

Purchasing credits.

To purchase credits, enter in the text field the number of credits that you would like to purchase, then press the Purchase button. A secure PayPal browser window will open, and you'll be prompted to enter the necessary information to complete the purchase. You will receive 100 credits for every dollar you spend. Credit purchases of under $3.00 will include an additional $0.30 PayPal transaction fee.

In most cases your nation should receive its credits within 5 minutes of your purchasing them. The exception is if your PayPal account does not have enough money in it to cover the purchase, and if it's associated with a checking account rather than a credit card. In this case it may take about 4 business days for your bank to clear the payment and for your nation to receive its credits.

If you'd prefer not to use PayPal or if you live in a country that PayPal doesn't support, you also have the option of purchasing credits using StormPay. To select StormPay rather than PayPal, go to the Settings Panel (by pressing the Settings button on the Nation Panel) and select StormPay for your Payment Method. Because StormPay charges higher transaction fees than PayPal, a $0.69 fee is add to every StormPay credit purchase below $10.

When you purchase credits via PayPal or StormPay, in addition to the credits your nation will receive 25,000 points and 5 rebirth points for each $1 spent. Your nation's Combat Fatigue will also be reduced by 0.5 for every $1. And if you make a single credit purchase of at least $20, your nation will receive Premium Features for free.

Alternatively, if your nation has won prize money, you may press the button at the bottom of the panel to purchase credits using your prize money. Each time you press this button, one dollar of your nation's prize winnings will be converted into credits. For each $1 of prize winnings spent, your nation will receive 150 credits and 3 rebirth points.